Many consumers are concerned with the characteristics of their skin. For example, consumers are concerned with the degree of pigmentation of their skin, freckles and/or age spots. Other consumers wish to reduce skin darkening caused by exposure to sunlight. To meet the needs of consumers, many attempts have been made to develop products that improve skin characteristics. The products developed thus far, however, often tend to have low efficacy, undesirable side effects or both. Furthermore, such products can be expensive and are often not an alternative for lower income consumers.
There is an increasing interest to develop a cosmetic composition that comprises new skin lightening additives. This invention, therefore, is directed to cosmetic compositions that comprise new skin lightening additives. The cosmetic compositions of the present invention preferably comprise, as a lightening additive, compounds like 12-hydroxystearic acid, ricinoleic acid or both. The cosmetic compositions of this invention result in a decrease in melanin content which is at least about 8% lower (preferably, at least about 11% lower) when comparing MelanoDerm™ cultures treated with the same to MelanoDerm cultures that have not been subjected to a composition with the newly discovered skin lightening additives of this invention.